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The Inventor

Dr. Darren Baker is an Assistant Professor in the Center for Renewable Carbon at the University of Tennessee. He received his B.Sc. and Ph.D. from the University of Leeds, UK. He conducted his postdoctoral research at the School of Materials Science at Clemson University and then joined the USDA Agricultural Research. As a research associate at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), he developed low-cost carbon fiber from lignin. His current research interests include the manufacture of carbon fiber and related carbons from engineered lignins; the development of coupling agents for polymer interfaces; the recovery and use of cellulosic nanomaterials; and the manufacture of nanofibers. He continues to serve as a technical resource for the lignin low-cost carbon fiber program at ORNL.

Contact

The University of Tennessee Research Foundation (UTRF) is a non-profit corporation responsible for commercializing University of Tennessee technologies and for supporting University research. UTRF is seeking parties interested in learning more about this technology and in exploring possible research and/or commercialization arrangements.

If after reviewing this abstract you would like further information, please phone us at 865.974.1882 or send an email to utrfinnovations@tennessee.edu and reference PD 11023. We will get in touch with you as soon as possible to make the appropriate arrangements, including discussions with the inventor. We will also be glad to discuss possible avenues for commercialization of this technology or answer any questions you may have regarding UTRF.

High Strength Lignin Polymer Fiber

Engineering Technologies for Licensing

The Technology

Researchers at the University of Tennessee have discovered a method to produce lignin-based polymer fibers with high strength. Lignin manufactured by this novel method has improved the quality and the mechanical properties of lignin-based fibers to such a great extent that the inventors believe it can displace polypropylene in geotechnical textile, construction and agricultural uses. Lignin is biodegradable and is often generated as waste during biofuels production, paper manufacturing, and chemical pulping processes, making it a low cost source of high quality material.

Lignin-based polymer fiber exhibits typical tensile strength of around 400 GPa with moduli in excess of 5 GPa; both are values found in higher-end commercial polypropylene fibers. The inventors have produced commercial grade material with diameters as low as 8µm, strengths as high as 800 MPa, and moduli in excess of 30 GPa. In fact, lignin polymer fiber produced by this methodology exhibits a wide range of textile strengths from weak natural fiber to strong polypropylene and medium polyesters, with moduli greater than synthetic fiber of 4GPa, but maintain congruent extensibilities to those of natural fibers. In addition to these excellent properties, the lignin polymer fiber is biodegradable; the rate of which is tunable.